


Reality vs. Infinity

by Phantoms_Echo



Category: Danny Phantom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avengers Endgame Fix it, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Complete, Danny used the Stones to Create the Stones, F/M, Fix-It, Infinity Gauntlet, One Shot, Reality Gauntlet, Time Travel, Which are two different things, mentioned minor character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:28:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22273345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phantoms_Echo/pseuds/Phantoms_Echo
Summary: When the Snap happened, that was it. Danny's life was over. His friends and family were gone, his allies and enemies dust in the wind. It was like the CATs test all over again, but Clockwork had no reset button for this.He had something better.Dr. Strange had searched 14 million futures to find one in which Thanos was defeated. Clockwork had infinite futures and an infinite amount of time on his hands. It was only a matter of time and chance before he found the one that would fit his needs and set the multiverse to rights.It came with the added benefit of preventing more paradoxes and saving a few key people the human race was better off keeping alive.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, pre-Danny Fenton/Sam Manson - Relationship
Comments: 11
Kudos: 624
Collections: Clever Crossovers & Fantastic Fusions





	Reality vs. Infinity

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom or any of the MCU universe, only the idea for this fic.
> 
> PS - SPOILER ALERT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SEEN ENDGAME. Just thought I should throw that out there.
> 
> PSS - So, I was binge-watching Danny Phantom a couple weeks ago and got to the Reality Gauntlet episode and I suddenly realized that, Butch Hartman? Totally ripped off the Marvel universe. Reality Gauntlet? Infinity Gauntlet? Stones to power them? 
> 
> Yeah, totally ripped it off. (And I'm pretty sure it was Marvel that did it first, since the Infinity Gauntlet first debuted in 1977 and Danny Phantom wasn't a show until 2004.)
> 
> At the same time though, how useful would that be in the MCU? They could have avoided all of those deaths and Thanos returning if Danny had just magicked up the Stones again. Not sure it actually works that way, but hey, I'd at least give it a go.

He sat with his back to the wall, face in his hands.

_“Uh, hey Danny?” Tucker called, looking queasy. “I don’t feel so good.”_

He drew his knees closer to himself, as if to put a barrier between himself and the memories.

_“Something’s wrong,” Sam said as she watched her fingers turn to dust. She turned frantic eyes to him. “Danny, do something!”_

His palms pressed against his eyes to stay the tears. Whether anger or despair, he didn’t know.

_“Danny!” His parents herded him to the RV. “We need to get inside! This is some kind of new ghost, no doubt! We’ll be safe inside the shield!”_

It hadn’t mattered. Shield or no shield, hiding or not, it didn’t matter. This was no ghost power he knew of.

They were gone –all of them. Sam, Tucker, Dani, his Parents-!

Even Vlad was gone, as if they just disappeared from thin air.

_“It’s okay, little brother,” Jazz said, even as her torso fell apart at his touch. “I know you’ll fix this. I believe in you…”_

Then she was gone.

They were gone.

Gone, gone, gone, _gone, gone, gonegonegone-!_

A hand on his shoulder tore him from his grief. “Daniel…”

“Clockwork.” Danny looked up, hopeful. “Did you find something? Do you know what did this?”

_Do you know how I can get them back?_

“I am working on it, Daniel.” Clockwork shifted down, as if kneeling by his side. “Time is infinite, the possible realities more so. It will take time to locate the right-!”

“We’re out of time, Clockwork!” Danny hissed, shoving off the other ghost’s hand. “They’re gone! Sam, Tucker, my family-! This is exactly the same scenario that brought… _him_ to life before! I can’t let that happen! We have no more time!”

“Fortunately, time is all we have,” Clockwork said, voice stern but still caring. His baby face held no hint of weakness as he explained. “In my domain, time is happening all at once and not at all. We could spend a thousand years here, and not a second would pass in the human realm, or we could spend a mere second and return to find the world fallen to pieces. So really, Daniel, we truly have nothing _but_ time.”

Danny averted his eyes, ashamed of his outburst in front of such an ancient entity. Especially one who was trying his best to _help_ Danny. Yelling wouldn’t make things better. It didn’t even make him _feel_ better.

“I have found one possibility,” another Clockwork called from his station. Danny didn’t know if he had cloned himself or if these were Clockworks of different time eras all working at once, but he didn’t care. At the sound of news, he stood and flew over. A grey-haired Clockwork followed closely behind.

“The irregularity in time was caused by an extra-terrestrial being,” the Clockwork clone informed them. “A being called Thanos. He obtained the Infinity stones and snapped half the population of the universe out of existence.”

“Infinity stones?” Danny squinted at the screen the Clockworks were focused on. “Wait, aren’t those the Reality Gems? And isn’t that the _Reality Gauntlet_?! I thought I destroyed that!”

“You did.” Clockwork assured him, crossing his arms over his lean chest. “But the Reality Gauntlet and its gems were merely a pale reflection of the Infinity Stones. Where the Reality Gauntlet could change the landscape as far at the eye could see, the Infinity Gauntlet had range over the entire universe.”

“Has,” Danny corrected. “You mean ‘has’, right?”

“No,” Clockwork’s clone said as he reached a shrinking hand towards the screen.

Danny watched, wide-eyed as a battle waged before him. He didn’t know the place, but he knew the heroes on that battle field. Black Panther and Thor tore into the alien hordes. Black Widow went hand to hand with a Wakandan guard at her back. Scarlet Witch wreaked havoc on the enemy masses.

The video skipped forward.

There was a hulking figure— purple skin and clothed, so not the Hulk. He fought with another person —a mortal man. With a start, Danny recognized Captain America, without his iconic shield and sprouting more than a five o’clock shadow. He grappled with the giant figure, as if he was the only thing standing between the other and the deaths of millions.

Then, Danny realized he _was_.

In the next breath, the video skipped forward. An axe to the chest, a muted quip, an inaudible snap of fingers, then…

Dust. People left, right and center, crumbling right before his eyes.

_Tucker, Sam, Mom, Dad, Jazz-!_

The video skipped forward again. The purple alien —Thanos —disappeared into a portal, only for the screen to follow him. The video remained in fast forward as the alien struggled to his feet and into a small hut —no looming castle like Danny would have guessed. And then, and then…

Another inaudible snap, a flash of light, and the colored gems encrusting his gauntlet vanished into nothing but dust.

“He…” Danny felt a pit of despair crumble open in his chest. “He _destroyed_ them.”

“He did,” Clockwork agreed. “With the Infinity Stones gone, there is no way to reverse the damage he has done to not only this universe, but countless others as well.”

“Others?” Danny asked.

“A cataclysmic event of this magnitude… it does not come without echoes that breach the boundary of parallel universes.” Clockwork looked haggard as he ran a hand down his weathered face and beard. “If something is not done, it could cause the collapse of everything we know.”

“We need to reverse it.” Danny ran a frantic hand through his hair. “But how? He _destroyed_ them! The Infinity Stones are the only way to fix this! It’s hopeless!”

“Not necessarily.” Clockwork’s clone gestured to the screen again, bony hand strengthening as the video skipped forward.

It showed Danny standing in a field of strange plants and fruits, Reality Gauntlet on his arm. The scene wasn’t unlike the one he had just seen Thanos destroy the stones in. He stretched out his hand and, with one thought, warped reality and recreated the Stones and Infinity Gauntlet as it had been at the time of the second Snap.

Clockwork’s clone looked to him, young eyes wise beyond their years. “Though the Reality Gauntlet is but a shadow of a more powerful source, it may be used to recreate the Stones, for enough time to undo what has been done.”

“But I already destroyed it, remember?” Danny pointed out, then paused. “But… you could send me back. I could take it and go to where the Stones had been destroyed and recreate them! This could work!”

“You can recreate them,” Clockwork said, lisping slightly with only his two front teeth. “But I cannot send you back.”

“What?” Danny’s eyebrows drew together in anger. “Why not?!”

“Because every time my power is used, it must also be undone,” Clockwork explained, face growing drawn and wrinkled. “When I showed you he-who-could-have-been, time had to be rewound to the moment I first intervened. When you wished to go back and prevent Vlad Plasmius from existing, I allowed you to see the consequences, but the past had to be put to rights. You had to discover the answer in your own time. History can merely be learned from, not changed.”

“So you can’t intervene?” Danny asked desperately. “ _At all_?!”

“No.” Clockwork shook his head, beard shrinking as he did so. “But, not all is lost. “

“What do you mean?”

“Five years from now, the heroes of Earth, the Avengers, create a method to warp time and reality and return to the past. This plan leads to the death of several of them and millions more of their ranks. They try to collect the Stones, but they inevitably unleash Thanos on their world again. The world suffers a great loss…” Clockwork looked over to him, youthful eyes sharp. “But if you approach them with a different plan…”

“I can go back for the Reality Gauntlet and keep anyone else from dying,” Danny said with grim realization. “So you’re telling me to sit around for five years?”

“No. I am saying you must find another way,” Clockwork said. “After all, there is more than one way to leave the Zone to a different time.”

And then, Danny remembered. “The Infinite Map. I can use that to get to the future! But… couldn’t I also use it to go to the past?”

“The portals that open are unstable. You may go to the past, but be unable to escape. You may go to the future and be unable to return. Or, you could have just enough luck to make it to the right place at the right time.” Clockwork just gave him that secretive smile. “I would hurry if I were you, Daniel. The portal to the future you desire might be closing at any moment.”

So Danny did.

Without bothering to say good-bye, he leapt into the air and blasted off towards the land of Frost Bite. The yetis had been the protectors of the Map for millennia. They were also nice enough to let Danny borrow it from time to time as was necessary.

And this was necessary.

He was already planning out his argument to Frost Bite for borrowing the Map, but he needn’t have worried. There was no one left to greet him.

“Frost Bite?” he called out as he landed.

The icy landscape was empty of the usually bustling town. There were new snow drifts here and there but not a single air of yeti could be seen. A sinking feeling tugged at his stomach.

“Don’t think about it,” Danny told himself. “Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it!”

He made his way to the cave of Artifacts where the Map was held. It rested on a pedestal, free for anyone to take. Not a guard in sight.

“I’ll fix this,” Danny promised himself as he flew from the vacant town, map in hand. “I’ll fix _all_ of this.”

He had to. There was no other way this could end.

When he was far enough from the snowy realm to be able to breathe, he opened up the Infinity Map. Its colored parchment stared back at him, silent. He took a breath.

“I need to find the Avengers,” he said. “Five years from now, when they have worked out time travel and before they are set to gather the other Infinity Stones from the past.”

At first, the Map lay silent in his hands. Then, with a flash, it flew into motion. Danny swallowed down a yelp and held on for dear life. They tore through the Ghost Zone, buildings and realms and artifacts flying past faster than Danny could keep up with.

It didn’t matter. He wasn’t interested in them anyway.

What did matter was the portal yawning wide in front of him that the map dove headfirst into. He closed his eyes and felt the old bespelled parchment drag him in after.

When he opened his eyes, it was to a world five years in the future.

* * * * *

“So, we’ve got the dates down,” Tony said as he went over the calculations again. “Three in New York for Steve, Hulk and I and one for each of you scattered across space. Except for Legolas and Red over there. You guys have to share. Who wants to go first?”

“No one is going anywhere,” a disembodied voice replied. The Avengers reacted on a trigger, each one leaping up and into defensive positions. Only for a white-haired teenager to appear before them, an ancient scroll rolled and tucked into his belt. They didn’t let their guard down. Far more innocent things had attacked them.

“Wait,” Tony said, recognition sparking in his eyes. “I know you.”

The boy looked surprised at this, as did the other Avengers.

“What, no one else bothered to memorize the faces of the people you failed?” Tony asked, partly dismissive, partly self-patronizing. “You’re Phantom, hero of Amity Park. You disappeared during the Snap. You should be dead… or whatever kind of death happens to ghost boys during the Snap.”

“I disappeared, but I wasn’t Dusted. I spent that time in the Ghost Zone,” Phantom explained.

“The what?” Captain America asked.

“It’s a dimension that sits on a different plane of existence,” Phantom explained. “There, time works differently. Any portal out could lead you to the future or drop you with cavemen.”

“ _Another_ person from who got trapped in another dimension?” Scott Lang muttered to himself. “How many of us _are_ there?”

“I wasn’t stuck,” Phantom said. “The Snap happened only hours ago to me. I went in there in order to find a way to help.”

“And you just _happened_ to find a way into the future, right as we’ve come up with a plan to gather the Infinity Stones,” Tony said, dubious.

“Not exactly hard when you’ve got a map.” Phantom patted the scroll at his hip.

“That doesn’t explain _why_ you’ve chosen to arrive now,” Natasha said gruffly, just as suspicious as Tony. “Why not any other time in the past five years?”

“Because _now_ is when you’ve figured out time travel,” Phantom said. “And _now_ is when you gather the Stones and accidentally bring Thanos back with you.”

The group tensed, remembering their first battle with him.

“So what?” Clint asked, teeth bared. “You going to warn us? Try and stop us? I’ve lost too much to just stop here, kid, no matter the consequences. I won’t change my mind, even if you ask nicely.”

“If I did, I would be a hypocrite.” Phantom frowned at them. “I lost my friends, my entire _family_. I’m not here to stop you, I’m here to _help you_. But I’m also here because your plan won’t work, not without heavy casualties.”

The Avengers shared a look between them.

“So what do you suggest?” Steve asked.

“Five and a half years ago, there was another powerful item —the Reality Gauntlet,” Phantom explained, speaking quickly before the others could interrupt him. “It wasn’t as powerful as the Infinity Stones, but it could warp reality as far as the eye could see. If we took it to where Thanos destroyed the Stones…”

“We could recreate _this_ universe’s copy of them.” Tony caught on quickly.

“Then there wouldn’t be the potential for paradoxes.” Banner-Hulk noted with a thoughtful furrow of his brow.

“Why did you not do this before?” Natasha asked through narrowed eyes.

“For one, I have no way to get to the planet Thanos was on when he destroyed them, let alone know _where it is_.” Phantom held up a second finger. “For two, I destroyed the Reality Gauntlet five and a half years ago.”

“You did?” Steve frowned. “Why?”

“I had just defeated another villain who had wanted to use it for selfish purposes.” Phantom looked down at his hand. It clenched into a fist. “I didn’t think _anyone_ deserved that much power, so I did the responsible thing and destroyed it. I never thought I would need it for something like this.”

A brief silence followed before Tony spoke up. “A friend of mine had looked through 14 billion futures and found only one that would end with us winning. You said our plan would work, even with casualties. What’s to say _your_ plan will?”

“Because _my_ friend looked at an infinite number of futures,” Phantom said plainly. “In his domain, there is nothing _but_ time to look for the best possible outcome.”

“And why would he care? Did he lose someone?” Clint sneered, but he looked to be won over.

“He said the Snap threw off the balance,” Phantom frowned, obviously trying to repeat the words of his friend. “It’s not just _this_ universe that felt its blow, but many others feeling its echoes. If left on its own, it could collapse the multiverse.”

“And your friend can’t pitch in?”

“Any time he intervenes, his actions are overwritten. Only memories are left behind,” Phantom explained with a shake of his head. “Which is why I had to find you when the ability to time travel became something humans could do.”

The team still looked like they were on the fence. Desperate to get his family back and keep from losing any more people, Danny made one final plea. “If it doesn’t work, we can just go back in time, right? To before I came to ask you?”

“There aren’t enough Pym particles for multiple tries. We have to use them with the utmost scrutiny.” Tony scratched at his beard, heavy in thought. He looked up at Phantom. “Your friend, you trust him?”

“He’s never steered me wrong before,” Phantom admitted.

Tony stared at him for a moment longer before shrugging. “Good enough for me.”

“Tony!” Steve protested, but Tony just fixed him with a stern look.

“Remember my condition, Rogers,” Tony said lowly. “I can’t afford to lose what I’ve got. If this method is the best possible outcome, I have to take it.”

Steve opened his mouth, as if to protest, then closed it with a snap. He nodded in consent.

Tony clapped him on the shoulder in a show of comradery the two hadn’t shared in years. Then he turned to the rest of the group. “Okay, people! Let’s give our new friend a hand!”

* * * * *

“And now, all that’s left is…” Danny looked down at the gauntlet. He pulled it off and readied an ecto-blast.

Before he had a chance to toss it up and destroy it for good, a voice cried out. “ _Wait!”_

Danny let out a yelp as he fumbled the Gauntlet and nearly dropped it. Once he had a firm hold of it again, he looked up towards the source of the shout… only to see himself?

“Don’t destroy it yet!” the second him ordered. He was dressed in a strange suit, black with what looked like white body armor and red accents through-out the fabric. It looked a little like he was going to war.

“But it’s too powerful!” Danny said, to the shocked look on his friends’ faces. “No one should have that kind of power!”

“And I agree,” the second him said as he flew in close. Danny flinched back, hugging the Gauntlet close to his chest. His double held out a hand. “But I need to use it first.”

“And who are you?” Sam demanded, shoving herself between the two of him. “Another one of Vlad’s cloning attempts?”

“No,” the second Danny said. He stared at her for a long moment, grief in his eyes before he shook his head. “I’m him, from the future. Six months in the future to be exact.”

“Time travel isn’t a thing.” Tucker butted in. “There’s no way to go back in time. Einstein proved it mathematically. It’s impossible!”

“There’s a lot of impossible things that will happen soon.” His double looked at Gauntlet in Danny’s arms. “That’s pretty impossible too, isn’t it?”

Tucker and Sam shared a look.

“But why do you need it?” Danny asked. “You said it yourself. It should be _destroyed.”_

“Because in six months, something happens,” his double said, eyes filling with that hidden grief again. “Something terrible. And there’s nothing we can do to stop it. But I _can_ fix it. By using the Reality Gauntlet.”

“I… I don’t know…” Danny looked between himself and his friends.

“This could be a trap,” Sam warned. “He could be a trick that Vlad created.”

“Or any number of other enemies.” Tucker pointed out. “Everyone would want to get their hands on this thing. They’d be almost invincible.”

Just as Danny was starting to lean towards destroying the Gauntlet for good, his double said something that stopped him in his tracks. “Do you remember the CAT test?”

Danny frowned. He remembered the whole adventure where he’d ended up in the future and then the past, fighting himself all the way. It had been a lesson by Clockwork to keep him from cheating, but… how did that tie in now? “Yeah, what about it?”

“The event that happens, it has consequences just as bad,” his double said seriously. “Clockwork sent me back so that I could keep… _him_ from happening.”

“Y-you mean…?” Danny shot a worried glance at Sam and Tucker, to their bemusement. “Do I… do _we_ -?”

“Not yet.” His double shook his head. “But I don’t know how long I’ll last without… That’s why I _need_ the Gauntlet. After I fix it, I’ll return right away and you can destroy it, but I need to use it before then.”

Danny looked between his double and the Gauntlet, mulling over the facts he’d learned.

Seeing his hesitation, Sam frowned harshly. “Danny, you can’t seriously believe him!”

“There’s no physical possibility of time travel, dude!” Tucker reminded him. “He can’t be telling the truth.”

“Even so, he’s told me too many things I remember, things even _you guys_ don’t know.” Danny looked over to them, then his double with his hand still out stretched. “If he really is me and something really _did_ happen in the future, then I need to fix it. No matter the cost.”

Then he placed the Gauntlet in the outstretched hand. His double gave a sigh of relief and slipped it on.

“Thank you,” his double said with a grateful smile. “You don’t know how much this means to me.”

“No,” Danny agreed. “But I will.”

His double’s smile grew in recognition before he looked down at the gauntlet. “Uh, any chance I could get the activation sequence for this too?”

“You don’t remember it?” Sam asked, still dubious.

“It’s been six months!” His double threw up his hands in exclamation. “Do you know how many tests I’ve crammed for since then? I needed the brain space! And no way was I going to give up my extra-terrestrial trivia facts!”

“Yeah.” Sam and Tucker shared a look. “That’s Danny all right.”

Danny scowled at them.

* * * * *

“And you’re sure this will work?” Tony asked as the Avengers all gathered around.

They were on a vacant planet, the place of Thanos’ fall and the Stones’ demise. The overgrown garden and dilapidated hut looked _exactly_ like those Danny had seen on Clockwork’s screen, so he knew they were in the right place. As for Tony’s question…

“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “But we have to try.”

He looked over at Banner who wore a Gauntlet fashioned by Tony to hold the Stones. “I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep them together. The Reality Gauntlet is weaker than the Infinity Stones. The moment they form, you have to be ready.”

“Got it.” Hulk-Banner nodded. “One snap to bring back all the life Thanos had snapped away.”

“Maybe think about depositing people from airplane, subs or boats onto dry land, if you can,” Danny suggested. “And get rid of the rest of Thanos’ fervent believers, but that’s more of a side note.”

“I’m not sure I’ll survive more than one use,” Hulk confessed.

“Yeah, well. It was worth a shot.” Danny looked down to input the sequence on the Reality Gauntlet. “Here goes… well, _everything_.”

The team had shown him the Stones on the flight over. He had memorized their characteristics and what they represented, all in the hopes of being able to recreate them. Hopefully, it would be enough.

He stretched out his hand and closed his eyes. He let out a steady breath and activated the Reality Gauntlet.

Immediately, he felt his strength drain away. He could feel Reality warping around him, the very fabric of the universe stretching and pulling and twisting in on itself. The Gauntlet drew on its own power and, when that ran out, turned to sap him of his own. It felt like using the Ghostly Wail, but a hundred times worse. Would he be able to keep his form? Would he even remain conscious?

He gritted his teeth and fought through the pain and exhaustion. Sweat broke over his brow and his knees began to shake. He didn’t know how long it had been and couldn’t ask. The moment his concentration broke, the Stones would blink out of existence again and they’d have to start all over. He just had to bear with it.

A wave of power crashed past him. A hand caught him from behind as his knees buckled. The extra bit of burden was enough to undo him. He collapsed to the ground, Reality Gauntlet falling silent.

“Phantom!” The hand from earlier returned. “Phantom, can you hear me?”

Danny sucked in a breath and coughed as his ribs convulsed. Oops, he had stopped breathing at some point. That probably wasn’t good.

When he was able to catch his breath, he asked tiredly. “Did we do it?”

Hands lifted him into a sitting position. “Yeah, look for yourself.”

He squinted open his eyes to see the group. No one had been Snapped on this planet, not at this little hut. Thanos had been killed by Thor, so they didn’t have to worry about his revival. Banner-Hulk though, had deep wounds all the way up his arm. It looked like some combination of burns, bruises and shattered bone as far as Danny could tell. It didn’t look pretty.

“It’s the same kind of thing we saw on Thanos,” Banner explained with a wince. “He got it from using the Stones. As long as I used them correctly, everyone should be back.”

“Awesome.” Danny let a loopy smile grace his lips. “Mind if I take a nap now?”

Whoever was above him laughed.

The sound followed Danny into his dreams.

* * * * *

When Danny woke up again, he found himself in a strange room he had never seen.

It didn’t look like a hospital room, from what he could tell. The walls were a neutral beige, the carpet a darker brown. He himself was lying in a bed with light green sheets, a dark wood end table standing by his bed. The Reality Gauntlet lay on top of it, cold and deactivated. He let out a breath of relief and ran a hand through his hair.

His black hair.

With a start, he realized that his transformation had dropped in his sleep, which meant—!

“Daniel Fenton, son of Jack and Maddie Fenton, top ecto-biologists in their field, brother to Jasmine Fenton, keeper of the all-time highest score on the CATs.” The voice came from the doorway where a familiar face leaned against the frame, arms crossed. “You were a hard person to find.”

Danny winced. “Yeah, was kind of hoping you wouldn’t go looking.”

“You disappeared in the Snap,” Tony noted. He raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t think you’d turn up as Danny Phantom. I’m not sure how I didn’t see the similarities.”

“Most people don’t. Kind of how I was able to fly under the radar until now. My sister calls it the Superman Effect,” Danny said. He shot Tony a nervous look. “You… won’t tell anyone, right?”

Tony made a non-committal sound. “I think it would be good for you to tell some people, like your family to start, but that is your choice. I won’t take that away from you.”

Danny let out a relieved sigh. “Thanks.”

“So what’s your plan now?” Tony asked.

“Now?” Danny looked down at the Gauntlet. “Return this back to its rightful place. And then… go home, I guess.”

“Home?” Tony asked.

“Amity Park.” Danny shrugged. “I’ve got friends and family there. And if Danny Fenton disappeared during the Snap, it stands to reason he should return with everyone else, right?”

“I suppose so.” Tony scratched his beard. Then he pushed off from the wall. “Well, if you’re ever in trouble, I bet these guys will be more than willing to lend you a hand.”

Danny snorted. “Not you?”

“Nah, I’m out of the business.” Tony held up his hands. “Got a little girl to take care of. And a teenage boy now too. Spiderman’s guardian… she didn’t take his disappearance too well. Didn’t make it past year one.”

Danny flinched back. He… he didn’t realize… even though they had brought many people back, many others were beyond saving. He looked down at the Reality Gauntlet in his hands. “Maybe we can…”

“Don’t do this to yourself, Danny-boy.” Tony shook his head. “You can’t save everyone. Trying to do so will drive you crazy. Trust me. That is not a road you want to go down.”

Danny frowned and ducked his head, but let the thought go.

“You aren’t at fault, but if you want to make it up to him, I can get the two of you in contact.” Tony grabbed a random sheet of paper and scrawled a number off of it. “I’m sure spider boy could use a friend, seeing as his are five years older than him now.”

“Thanks.” Danny accepted the piece of paper from him. “I can’t promise much, since Amity isn’t exactly close, but I’ll do what I can.”

“I appreciate it.” Tony nodded, then slapped a hand on his shoulder. “So, anything else?”

“Actually…” Danny looked down at the Reality Gauntlet in contemplation. “Do you think Iron Man could come out of retirement to do one more thing?”

* * * * *

“How long do you think it’ll take him?” Sam asked.

“However long he needs,” Danny said, gazing off into the sky where his double had just disappeared to.

A finger tapped his shoulder, startling him into the air. “ _Gyaah!”_

“Hey!” His double waved. “I’m back!”

“Whoa, that was fast,” Tucker noted.

“It’s time travel.” Danny gave him a doleful look. “What did you expect?”

“Hey,” Sam frowned and looked about. “Where’s the Reality Gauntlet?”

“Oh! My friend’s got it.” Danny’s double jabbed a finger behind him. “He’s a little slower than I am.”

“Friend?!” Danny blanched. “You weren’t supposed to hand that off to anyone! It’s too powerful!”

“I mean…” His double glanced back at the figure speeding towards them. “I didn’t give it to just _anyone_ …”

“Is that…?” Sam squinted.

“ _Iron Man!?_ ” Tucker squawked, unable to believe his eyes.

“Yo!” Tony saluted them, steel hand to steel helmet. “Phantom and friends, right?”

“You… are Iron Man. I’m talking to Iron Man! _The_ Iron Man! This is every nerd’s _dream_!” Tucker vibrated on the spot.

“Want me to sign an autograph for you?” Tony remarked.

Tucker fainted on the spot. Sam and Danny caught him before he could smash his head on the ground and slowly lowered him the rest of the way.

“Uh… sorry about him,” Danny’s double said, as if _meeting Iron Man_ wasn’t the _coolest_ thing to ever happen to him! The only thing cooler might have been meeting Thor. That guy had gone to _space_. “Tucker gets excited easily.”

“Him and about every other engineer at conventions.” Tony nodded. Looking over to Danny, he pulled out the Reality Gauntlet, carefully held in his hands. “And I believe this belongs to you?”

“Technically, it belongs to nobody,” Sam said as she crossed her arms. “It’s an ancient artifact that should be preserved in a museum, but because some nut job decided he wanted ultimate power, we have to destroy it instead.”

“Oooh, you didn’t tell me she was so feisty.” Tony nudged Danny’s double with his elbow. “She sounds exactly like Pepper.”

“Sam’s right,” Danny said as he took the Gauntlet. “This is too powerful for people to run around with. It needs to be destroyed.”

“Well, unless another me turns up asking for it in the next couple seconds, I think you’re good to go,” Danny’s double said.

The group paused to look around, just to be sure.

“I think that answer’s that,” Danny said. “You think one ectoblast would do it?”

“It did before,” his double said. “But you’ve got three super-powered beings here able to fire beams of light. Might as well make use of it.”

“Hey, I’m always game for explosions.” Iron Man held up a hand. “Unless they’re the evil kind. Not a fan of those.”

“Then you’ve got nothing to worry about.” Danny grinned. “Sam, you’ve got the better arm. Mind getting us some height?”

She looked at the Gauntlet sadly before meeting his eyes with a grin. “Just don’t hit me with that blast of yours.”

“No promises.” Danny snapped some finger guns at her, to which she rolled her eyes and took several steps back.

“Ready?” she called. The three heroes lined up, palms charging with energy. “Pull!”

She threw the Gauntlet sky high. Three blasts caught it, blasting it to dust.

And the universe was safe once more.

“Thanks for the help, guys,” Danny said to the other two.

“No problem!” Iron Man waved. “Now, I’ve got to head back before I’m late for dinner. Pepper would be _so_ mad if I skip again.”

With a press of a button, he was gone.

“So… I’m not sure how this goes,” Danny said to his double. “Is this good-bye? Even though you’re me?”

“More like ‘see you around.’” He snickered. “After all, I’ll be in every mirror you stand in front of.”

“Dude, _that_ was bad.” Danny gave him a nonplussed look.

“It wasn’t and you know it,” his double said before he started fiddling with a wrist unit that Danny remembered seeing the first time they met. “Oh and before I go, I should tell you: you have nothing to worry about.”

“What?” Danny looked at him, wide-eyed.

“Ember’s spell,” his double said, not being any more helpful in his response. “It broke a long time ago. Your feelings are your own.”

And then he was gone.

“Ember’s spell?” Sam asked as she came up beside him. “The creepy one that made you fall in love with me?”

“Uh, wh-what? No! No way! It’s… a different one! Totally different!” Danny waved her off quickly, even as his cheeks tinted red.

Her eyebrows rose at him, but brushed off his weird response. “If you say so. Now help me get Tucker back inside. He’ll do nothing but whine if he gets a sunburn on the first day of summer vacation.”

“Right behind you,” Danny said.

And all was right in the world again.

**Author's Note:**

> So Tony adopting Peter and giving Danny his phone number? Definitely a nod to [Enigmaris](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enigmaris/pseuds/Enigmaris) and [ScarletNightFury's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarletNightFury/pseuds/ScarletNightFury) [The Ghost of Heros](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17915615/chapters/42299537) fic. It's a really cool fic, if you haven't had a chance to read it yet. :) I highly recommend. I'm not super big on Danny/Peter, because my OTP will always be Danny/Sam, but I do love the way the two characters interact with each other, both platonically and romantically. :) Enigmaris and ScarletNightFury did a really good job writing the fic. 
> 
> Anyway, I should probably go before I start ranting again. Oh! And for those of you who read my other content, if you haven't [participated in the poll](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17474012/chapters/41151446) yet, please place your votes soon. To vote, just leave a comment on the chapter. Voting ends Feb. 29.
> 
> For those of you who don't read my other content... Nice seeing you again! :) Hope to see you the next time I stop by the fandom!


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